Princely Matters
by Luca Targaryen
Summary: Elsa has been raised as a boy due to being the only child of the king and queen. Elsanna Elsa-Kristoff. Rated M.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the story of Frozen or any of its original characters, including but not limited to Anna, Elsa, The King, Olaf, Sven, and Kristoff.**

_AN: Hi everyone, this is my first fan fiction in a long time, please read and review and tell me what you think._

I am awoken by the sound of rapt knocking upon my door. It is followed by the sound of a harsh voice speaking gentle words. I do not catch what is actually said, for I am still in the process of waking up from my long night of deep sleep. I know who is knocking at my door even though I did not catch what they said. It is, as it is every morning, Gerda, my one and only handmaid. Despite living in a castle full of servants, I am only allowed one handmaid to help me get ready and to tend to my quarters. And, as is just my luck, I landed the sassiest one in father's employment. Gerda always knocked as a curtesy but I knew that she would come in no matter what I said or did not say.

As I begin to come around to the rest of my senses, I notice a very pleasant scent swirling around the room. It smells like breakfast is cooking downstairs. I peel my eyes open to an empty room; Gerda has not yet let herself in, although I have no doubt it will be soon. There is a faint glow of early morning light coming through the windows. I stretch my arms above my head as I sit up, adjusting to the feeling of being awake.

Just as I had predicted, Gerda opens the door and walks inside without any invitation what so ever. She is dressed in her usual teal dress with white apron. The teal is a flattering color against her bright ginger hair.

"Good morning Princess Elsa. I trust you slept well, since it took such a ruckus to wake you up." She pulls open the curtains and the room lightens up a bit, it is still dim morning light though. She grabs me by the hands and pulls me out of bed; she then proceeds to make the bed again.

"You should not call me that, even in private. You never know who could be listening." I begrudgingly make my way to the wash basin and throw some water on my face. It helps to wake me up a bit more thoroughly. I pull off my night clothes and hand them to Gerda to take to the laundry room. She steps into the hall, most likely to hand them off to one of her many busy bees. One of the benefits of having Gerda be my only handmaid is that she is in charge of most of the other servants of the house answer to her.

I notice that I look very thin as I watch myself in the mirror. My ribs are starting to show through my skin again, I sigh out loud and put a hand on my ribs. This weight thing is always such a pain for me, if I gain too much weight, my breasts get too big. But not weighing enough makes me nervous, these ribs make me nervous. Thankfully I inherited my mother's tiny hips, which limit my body's feminine appearance.

"Prince Eza, since you insist on pretending even in private, I've come back to get you ready for your day."

"Which ensemble have you chosen for me today?" I ask her as I raise my arms over my head. With a tight piece of cloth, Gerda binds down my breasts.

"It's a navy blue jacket with beige pants, very classic look."

After she's dressed me, I would agree that I look very classic. After I tie my shoulder length hair up in a fashion befitting of a young prince of Arendelle, I leave the room to go find my father.

I find him exactly where I expect to, in front of the portrait of my mother. He visits it every morning and just looks at it.

"Father," I say, tentatively, "You wanted to speak to me?"

"Eza," He says, turning to look at me, completely cut out of his trance-like state. "You like nice, yes I did want to see you this morning. I am feeling very out of sorts and have decided to give you the morning off of all your scheduled duties. But, we have visitors later, so you need to return here before they arrive. "

"Of course father, that should not be an issue at all. I appreciate the time off from my duties this morning." I bow low and wait for him to dismiss me.

"You are free to go Eza."

As I walk away I feel a warm smile spread across my face for the thought of having a free day is working through my brain. As I walk through the mostly empty castle the sound of my boots is heavy against the floor. The servants are pulling open the windows and pulling back the curtains, and the light of the evolving day is shining through.

I burst through the gates and am faced with bright faces that have been waiting for me to emerge all morning. I pull my gloves on that have been sitting in my pocket. I plaster a big smile on my face, and slowly make my way through the crowd. Shaking hands and kissing children, being touched from all directions.

Once I emerge I am in front of the vendor who sells flowers; there is a lovely young woman admiring some. As I walk past she twirls around and slips on the icy ground, which was my fault I regret, her flowers fly up into the air. I reach my arm out and her waist lands on it, I strain to keep her from falling.

"Oh!" She says as her eyes catch mine; I flash her a smile and she blushes. She struggles to get herself back on her feet. "I'm so sorry, ah! I'm such a mess, woah!" I help her regain her footing.

"My lady I'm afraid your lack of balance is my fault on this morning." I point to the gentle icy swirls all over the ground.

"Are you him?" Her eyes get very big, and her gentle lips fall open.

"Am I who?" I smile at her again, and that blush crawls up from her neck again.

"The ice prince?" She asks shyly.

I smile big, "The very same. I'm Prince Eza of Arendelle, what is your name my dear?"

She lifts her head up and smiles, " I'm Princess Anna of Corona. I'm visiting here with my family."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the story of Frozen or any of its original characters, including but not limited to Anna, Elsa, The King, Olaf, Sven, and Kristoff.**

_ AN: This chapter does not take place at the same time as the first one. This chapter is several years before the first one. Just thought I should clarify since I did not specify any ages in the first chapter._

I am breathing hard; the flow of breath in and out of my lungs is difficult and labored. My hand moves to my chest, in a pointless attempt to relax my breathing. My body lurches forward and my other hand goes out to catch my fall; although most of the impact is felt in my knees. My eyes are open, but my vision is blurred. I can only look at the floor, for if I raise my head I'm afraid that I will lose consciousness. But the floor does not look much like the floor I've been living on for fourteen years, the colors are gone and it is moving. Swimming almost.

I press my head into the floor, trying to figuratively ground myself through doing it literally. I close my eyes, for there is nothing to see that makes any sense at this time. My breathing is still labored but I am almost forgetting about it. I am not thinking about breathing, I am not even sure if I am doing it the whole time I lay crouched on the floor. The marble floor is unusually cold against my forehead.

The cold temperatures and I have always had an interesting relationship. I notice the cold, but it never bothers me. I imagine I could stand outside during a blizzard and be fine, perhaps uncomfortable, but fine. This floor is freezing, but somehow I am not fazed by it at all. I cannot remember why it is quite so cold though, since we are inside. Somehow the cold has penetrated the warm fortress that my father has built to keep it out; but I cannot remember how or why it happened today.

I begin to regain the feeling of breathing after what feels like no time at all; I cannot remember if I stopped breathing at all but I know there is an exact moment in which I felt breath enter and leave my body once again. Slowly I start to regain feeling in the rest of my as well.

I am lying on my side on the still freezing marble floor. I have fallen from my original position onto the left side of my body. My arm has been pinned under the weight of the rest of my body and as I shift my weight off of it I can feel the blood returning there. It tingles and stings as the blood flow becomes more regular.

I pull myself off of the floor and sit up, my head has stopped all spinning and has lost its dizzy quality all together. Memory is the next thing to return to me, I remember that I am the reason that my room has frozen. My hands have lost the icy quality that happens when I lose control like this; that means it has been a while since the room was frozen. It was the dream, the same dream again. It has been a long time since I had it, but I remember waking up from it and ice on my hands.

I stand up and shake the wrinkles out of my night clothes. I find a pin and pull my hair up, paying little heed to what it looks like or how well it will stay up through my late night search for Gerda. She will not be pleased that I am coming to wake her up to deal with my mess, but she is quite literally the only one who can take care of it. The only one even allowed in my room at all. I tentatively open the door and peer out. I am hoping to gage the time by how many people are not in bed.

I can see two girls washing the floor in the corridor outside of my room, they look tired; I can imagine they are, if they are in my corridor then they are almost done. This means that they have been working for several hours. This makes me feel better about going to find Gerda because it is closer to sunrise than I originally thought.

I make my way out of the room, and I wave at the girls cleaning the floor. This is less of a friendly gesture and more of a way of letting them know they need not turn away from their chore to tend to me. I would rather them be able to finish their work and take a break more quickly.

So I set out on my own to find Gerda. My breathing has not recovered fully from my episode and I can still hear it ringing in my ears. I struggle to walk normally and not reveal my condition to any servants whom are not privy to either of my secrets.

I find Gerda in the servants quarters, exactly where I thought I would. She is bossing the others around, just as I thought she would be.

"Highness," She addresses me and her face narrows and the familiar lines of worry are visible across her brow. "Is everything alright?"

I sigh louder than I mean to and attempt to calm my breathing before responding. I wet my lips, I had not noticed they had lost moisture until that moment. "The heat has escaped my room and I can no longer continue my sleep." I spoke the words calmly although I felt the storm raging inside me. If I could not regain control, I could have another episode right here in the servants quarters and father would not be pleased with this.

She nodded and I felt the understanding. This was not the first time I had come to find her before the sun was up and spoken these same words. "Come Prince Eza, let me take you back to your room and we will see what we can do about returning it to its warm state." She takes me by the hand and we leave the room.

Once back in the vastness of the hall she releases my hand and we walk wordlessly toward my room on the other end. Gerda, despite her forward sassy attitude, is much quieter than she would like for anyone to know. She thinks a lot, and she thinks deeply. I have no idea what sort of thoughts go on in that ginger head of hers. But as we walk towards my room in silence, I know that all sorts of thoughts are swirling around in her head.

When we reach my door, she hesitates. She knows what is awaiting her inside my room, she has faced it before and often. She takes a deep breath before opening the door. The maids who were cleaning the floor before have now finished and gone on to complete some other task, or hopefully take a break. They did good work, the floor shines and I can make out a vague outline of myself on it.

We are completely alone in the corridor, so it does no harm for her to swing the door open wide; the sight of it is overwhelming though. Frost and ice cover the entire room, although some of it has begun to melt. With a deep breath in, Gerda regains her usual ease and storms into the room. I walk in gently behind her and pull the doors closed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own the story of Frozen or any of its original characters, including but not limited to Anna, Elsa, The King, Olaf, Sven, Gerda and Kristoff.**

_AN: This story is back to the timeline of the first chapter. I really appreciate your guys' reviews so far and I am always looking forward to more. I'm also looking for someone to beta read this story, if interested send me a message on this site._

The air is brisk outside and I can feel its light sting against the skin of my face. My brief meeting with one of the visiting princesses has put me in a worse mood than I ever would have anticipated. I have known about this proposal for a long time; the royal family of Corona are our cousins after all, and marrying the families together only ensures the friendship between the two kingdoms remain strong.

It is a logical match, a princess of Corona and I. Of course whomever I married would rule Arendelle with me since I am first in line; and the other would marry someone to rule Corona. It would not matter which daughter, since they were both girls, and I would be able to choose the one I fancied more.

That was how my father explained it to me when he first told me of their planned visit over a month ago. I felt the same way then as I do now; I will not marry the eldest, no matter what, because I will respect her claim to her throne in Corona even though none of our parents seem to. I will not marry the youngest either if she is over eight years younger than me. I have no idea of how old anyone is, but if she is eight years younger than me that would make her 15 years old, and I cannot and will not marry a child.

If I am being perfectly honest I would rather not marry anyone at all. The whole point of me marrying a woman would be to produce heirs, and that is evidently not going to be a possibility. And I cannot marry a man because the king does not get pregnant with his own children. I would rather die alone and pick someone to rule next.

That is, of course, never going to be an option for me.

I do appreciate what my father has done for me; due to my unique position as an ice magic wielder, my father never wanted me to have to answer the beck and calls of anyone else. At least that is what he told me the reason was, I have a feeling it is more to do with the fact that I am the only heir and as a woman I cannot rule. But I still appreciate it; whether his pretend reason is true or not, it is still valid. If I was a woman all the time, I would not be my own person.

I return to the thought of the Corona princesses; how can my own father expect me to take away their freedom as an individual? After all, marrying them would unintentionally do that. And I do not even want to let my thoughts drift to what we would have to do to obtain children at some point.

As I am walking and flooding my brain with nothing but worrisome thoughts, I lose my way. I suddenly stop, jerked awake from my thoughts by the realization that nothing around me looks familiar in the slightest. I turn around a few times and try to remember where I am going. I see the familiar sled near the vegetable cart and remember; I was going to see Kristoff.

Kristoff is my oldest friend, and the only person outside of the castle who knows my gender secret. He is also the only person outside the castle who understands the full extent of the ice curse. Only Gerda knows besides him, about the nightmares and the fits.

Unfortunately I am also cursed with smart asses for friends in this life and Kristoff is even sassier than my lovely Gerda at times. Today is not one of his sassier days though, he is feeding carrots to Sven the reindeer and chatting with the vendor. There is a big smile on his face, he must be thinking of something nice.

I walk up behind him, unnoticed by him, and whisper "boo" in his ear. He startles forward and drops the carrot he was holding. He turns around and a bewildered look has replaced the smile which appeared on his face only a moment ago. However, when he sees that it is only me, the smile returns to his face.

"Highness," he addresses me, the sarcasm is cut by his smile and is not nearly as effective as he planned it. He regains the sarcastic tone though, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"My father is whom you owe the pleasure to, he gave me the morning off." I smirk back at him. He can read through my thin smile though. I know he can because I see a change in his eyes. The deep brown eyes shine with concern and I lower my gaze.

He shifts away from me and hands some money to the vendor. "Thanks for the carrots, you know how Sven hates to eat anything else. Now, please excuse me but I have to remind his highness how we peasants have fun." The vendor smiles and waves us away.

Kristoff mounts Sven and helps me up behind him and we start riding to the cave.

We found the cave when we were children, probably about eight or nine years old. It is not so much a cave as it is a fortress and a hideaway from the world and the problems we faced. My lies and Kristoff's terrible truths cannot hurt us there and so it is a magical place.

In all physical descriptions, our cave is pretty ordinary; there's a pool of water in the middle and lots of trees and plants, there is a small opening on one side of the ceiling which lets in the natural light. But being in the dark in the cave is even better because it is so still and so calm. We have fallen asleep there before when we spend too long.

When we arrive we tie Sven to his favorite tree outside. It is big and casts a large shadow that he likes to lie in. Kristoff and I go into the cave and he puts down his things and lies against a tree. I pull off my upper layers of clothing and am in only my undergarments and bindings.

I sit near the pool and splash some water on my face, trying to wake myself up from the unintentional trance I have entered since meeting Anna this morning. As I wash my face and neck a bit, I can hear Kristoff pulling off the top layer of his clothes as well. His feet are soft against the floor of the cave, but I can still hear him as he walks closer to me. He sits down behind me and scoots himself closer until our barely covered bodies are touching.

He rests his head against my back and lets his hands rest in my lap.

"Els, what's wrong?" For a moment I do not answer him, this is our cave, troubles and problems should not enter here.

"I have to get married." Somehow, despite the whirlwind that is inside my head, my words sound very calm and collected. I know they will not remain that way the longer we sit here and talk. They will eventually gain a trembling quality.

"Who?" His voice is anything but calm.

"One of the princesses from Corona."

"You don't know which one?"

"I'm not meeting them until later."

"Then how do you know you are going to marry one?" He is getting defensive now, and I am feeling myself lose it. Lose the calm edge I have had on my voice.

"Kristoff," I say, tasting the name in my mouth slowly before I continue, "It's just how these things work. Corona is a valuable ally and we have been friends with the family for so long. There is no one else that father would pick."

He sits silent for a moment and I feel his head turn against my back so his face is pressed into my skin. His lips press into my skin for a moment.

"Elsa, you're getting very thin." He runs his rough fingers gently over my ribs, which are visible through my skin.

"I know," I sigh loudly. "Kristoff this is not something we can hide from. I am going to have to marry someone, even if it is not one of these girls. It will be some girl some day and she will have to be my wife."

"Els, I like you better less thin. These ribs, they make you look sickly."

I turn around to face him, and I must look like a mess because he says nothing, only pulls me closer and hugs me tightly. My face rests in the crook of his shoulder and he strokes my hair gently.

"Kristoff, I don't know how I'm going to through this." He pulls his body away from mine and puts his hands on my shoulders.

"The same way you get through everything else Eza."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own the story of Frozen or any of its original characters, including but not limited to Anna, Elsa, The King, Olaf, Sven, Gerda and Kristoff.**

_AN: This story takes place when Elsa and Kristoff are 16 years old. Please read and review, I'd love to know what you all think of the story so far and I am open for ideas of where to take the story next. Still looking for an editor!_

My body lurches forward, awoken by the sharpness of my dream. My breathing is heavy and fast-paced; my vision is blurry and swims before me. I rub my eyes and attempt to slow down my breathing. I have to calm down or I risk having another fit. I have been good these last five weeks and have not had a single one. My palms are warm and almost sweaty against my face. This is a relief to me, for I still have a chance to calm down before the ice starts to form.

I gently lie back down on the bed, in order to better calm myself. My back screams out, the muscles stiff and aching. I actively slow my breathing down and take long deep breaths. I have to calm down quickly and get out of here. I know why I have the fits of ice after these dreams, it is to protect myself from having a fit of emotion. While that sounds less destructive and dangerous, it is a horrible thing to behold. Sometimes it becomes too much and the ice happens anyway. That is why I have to find the one person I know can help me through this.

Once my breathing is relatively close to a normal level again, I sit up again. My vision has returned to normal and I can see that the room is still dark. Although, since the rains have come this helps me little in determining the time of day.

As I sit and continue to slow my breathing my other senses return to me. I can hear some girls chattering outside, they are most likely dusting or polishing something. It is probably closer to noon than it is to sunrise. Gerda always lets me sleep later when father is away since I do not have nearly as much to do. His stewards are far less keen than he is about taking me everywhere with them. This could have something to do with the fact that they think I am a sixteen year old boy and therefore have not yet developed a good attention span. They are half right and I would rather do anything else on any day.

But on this particular morning I cannot wait however much longer until Gerda comes to my room to get me dressed and acceptable looking. I slowly rise from the bed, taking heed not to go too fast as to dizzy myself. I feel parched, slightly dehydrated and that is not going to help at all in keeping me from getting too dizzy. Once I have reached the wash basin, I drink some of the water. Not very classy or princely, I know, but I am not about to wait around for some pretty little handmaiden to fetch me a glass of water.

I find myself a purple tunic and black trousers and pull them on after I bind myself down. Not my most classic look, but it will do just fine for where I am going today. I tie my hair back and pull on my boots. They are starting to wear down in the heel, I hope Gerda does not notice soon because she will insist upon getting rid of them and I am quite fond of them.

I exit my bedroom, acutely aware of how long I am going to be able to play my charade of mental clarity and emotional stability this morning. I take a deep breath and paste on my best "charming prince" expression and begin walking down the hall. It is the best stride I can muster, given the circumstances.

I can hear the heavy rain outside, it pats against the window sill. As I am walking a short red haired serving girl hands me a hooded cloak, I am assuming to protect my pretty face from the rain. I smile and nod my appreciation at her; she nods back and turns away to go back to whatever she was doing before. I tie the cloak on as I am walking and pull the hood up just as I go through the main gate.

Today there is no crowd awaiting my possible emergence, everyone is inside hiding from the cold weather. Kristoff will not be in town either, so I walk first to the stables, since I do not much fancy walking into the mountains to our cave this morning. I find one of our horses and saddle her up myself, I have no time to wait for any help. I can feel my facade slipping away and I know that I am going to completely lose it before I get there.

As I ride through the town my thoughts slip back to the dream, the same dream I always have. My mother, her poisoned words, and a poisoned knife. I start to feel reality slipping away from me.

_ Elsa is four years old, the only child from the King and Queen due to the Queen's ovarian sickness. They are in the main hall of the castle with three of the servants' children. The Queen sits at a window, watching something outside and pays no heed to the children. The children of the servants know that Elsa has ice magic and are watching as she conjures for them snowflakes and even whole snowballs. _

_ The children laugh and applaud Elsa and her snowballs and eventually the play turns into a snowball fight. They giggle as they throw the magic snow at each other. One child though aims poorly and a snowball hits the window sill near the Queen._

_ She turns around ever so slowly, her grace oozing out of her being. Although it is quite obvious to everyone in the room that she is very angry. The children of the servants bow low and run towards the door, just as the King emerges from it._

_ Elsa's beautiful snow magic turns cold and hard as the fear of her mother takes over. The snow frosts over and loses its shape, crumbling more like sand onto the floor. The tension between mother and child is almost palpable and the King is certainly aware of it._

_ He walks over to his wife and places a gentle hand on her shoulder. This is not the first time she has become upset with their son practicing magic. He speaks to her, Elsa does not hear the words for the trembling beat of her own heart rings louder. This most mysterious woman that her father called "Mother" and "Queen" was not one to be called "friend". She often grew angry at Elsa, even though her father told her it was good to practice the magic._

_ They leave the room together, the King and Queen, and leave Elsa alone in the hall. The next time Elsa saw her mother, they were in her father's room and her mother was driving a knife into her chest._

'Elsa!" The voice rings out against the darkness, I am quite sure it is one of the loudest things I have ever heard. I can still hear the heavy pitter patter of the rain, but it feels closer now, louder too. Sight is the next thing to return to me and I am looking up at a dark sky full of storm clouds. The rain is falling on my face, I must be lying down somewhere since I am looking directly up. Kristoff's face looms into view and his eyes shine with worry. I look around a bit and see that my horse is nowhere to be seen. I must have fallen off. The next thing I check is my hands; no ice, but they are cold. I switch my gaze to Kristoff.

"Did I break something when I fell?" He looks almost relieved at my question.

"Els, I'm pretty sure you would feel it if you did." I nod and sit up slowly. I indeed find that nothing is broken but my muscles are certainly unhappy with me.

The last thing to return is my memory of the dream, and the whirlwind of emotions that it brings. I look up at Kristoff and before I can say anything he has helped me onto my feet.

"We have to get out of this weather." He says at the wondering look on my face. He pulls me along through the rain into the cave. I was relatively close when I fell from the horse. He has a fire going. It is then that I realize my clothes are completely soaking wet, even my bindings.

"Why did you come out here, Elsa?" his face is worried again.

"I needed to see you."

He sits me down, wet clothes and all, and holds my face in his calloused hands. "What's going on Els?"

I killed my mom. That is what was going on. She could not handle being a mother to some monster like me and took her own life. But how could I say that to Kristoff? He would never agree with me.

"I had the dream again last night."

His face drops and in an instant he has pulled me close to him and I can feel the warmth of his body.

"Kristoff, I am all wet-" but his eyes silence me. They are full of concern.

"And the ice?"

"Not yet." I say softly.

"We won't let it happen." He pulls off my wet cloak and, to my protest, my tunic. Leaving only my bindings and thin undershirt. He pulls his cloak off, it is still mostly dry, and wraps it around the two of us, pulling me closer.

"Kristoff, what-?"

"You don't have to talk about it Els, I know what you think about your mom. I can see it in your eyes and you have told me what she did to herself. It wasn't your fault; she couldn't handle it and that was her fault." I close my eyes and lean into his chest, I am starting to cry though because I am not so sure he is right about that.

"You were only a child Elsa, it was never your responsibility to take care of her; in fact it was her responsibility to take care of you, no matter what. And she failed to do so. There was never anything wrong with who you are, she didn't do to escape you; she did it to escape her failure as a mother. She was so upset with herself, and didn't think she could ever fix it."

He takes my face in his hands again, and looks deep into my eyes. Through them almost, as if he is looking into the center of my being. "It isn't your fault." Then he does something I do not expect, he leans in and kisses me very gently.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own the story of Frozen or any of its original characters, including but not limited to Anna, Elsa, The King, Olaf, Sven, Gerda and Kristoff.**

_AN: Hey guys, here's the fifth chapter. I hope you will read it and review it; I love receiving your feedback. Once again, still looking for an editor for this story. If you are interested then please send me a private message! Just a warning, this chapter is a little rough._

The sunlight reflects off the delicate braids of her strawberry blonde hair, dancing across the layers, creating many different colors. Her hair is all piled on her head today; I am not sure how that was accomplished since there is so much of it. A braid wraps around the front and is twisted into the bun held tight on the back of her scalp. Her teal colored eyes sparkle in the light as she speaks to me. I do not remember what we are talking about because the way the light shines against her beautiful eyes is all I can focus my attention on.

She keeps talking about whatever it is though, apparently needing no input from me. She makes me laugh when she gets like this. She is not so much talking because the subject is very important or even just because she likes the sound of her voice; the reason is much sweeter than that, she is talking because she gets excited. And I love that. Her hands move all over the place when she talks like this and her smile is easy and free.

She stops all of a sudden, aware that my attention is not as captivated on her words as she originally thought it was. She smirks with her lips closed, a mischievous smile. "I'm sorry, am I boring you?"

"In all honesty princess," I start in a very serious tone, "I could listen to your musical voice for hours." I smile at her after I have finished speaking, her face lights back up and that easy smile is upon her face once again.

Anna has been at court with us for 14 months now, the rest of her family having returned home to Corona almost a year ago. My father had asked me after they left how long I thought was an appropriate amount of time to wait until letting the marriage take place. I had responded that I was not sure but I would let him know when I was ready for it. This very morning, before she came to find me and request a stroll in the garden, and before the beauty of her being in the sunlight entrapped me, I told my father he ought to plan the ceremony.

He told me he needed three weeks. He was very generous in giving me that first week for any changes of mind that might occur. Nevertheless, watching her amidst the flowers and the sunlight, I knew I had told him correctly.

"Anna," She looks into my eyes intently, listening with all of her being, "I have an important question to ask you, and I know what you will answer if you answer in the name of duty. But duty is a terrible reason to get married, and I would rather hear the answer you would give me if we were both poor and kingdom-less. I am asking you as Eza, not just as the prince of Arendelle. Will you marry me?" Her smile widens but I can still see that hint of mischievousness in her eyes.

"And why do you want to marry me, oh poor and kingdom-less Eza?" She is teasing me and I know it, but I will play along and answer her question.

"Because, dear princess, you make me laugh until I cry, and you are sweet and kind and I would be honored to have you as my queen until our dying days." She smiles, and this time it is completely genuine. I can tell because a cherry red blush creeps its way onto her face from her neck.

"Yes, I think I shall marry you, for that was an excell-" but before she can finish responding with her sassy retort, I place my hands on her soft face and pull her mouth into mine. She is laughing now and ruins our first kiss. Such a little brat.

She pulls away still giggling, the blush fading from her freckled face. However, she soon pulls me back in for a second kiss and this one is ruined by no one's girlish laughter.

After she pulls away I smile and say, "My dear Anna, you'll have to excuse me now. I have an errand to run, but I will see you later." I stroke her cheek lightly as I stand up. I pull the wrinkles out of my tunic before I start walking. As I walk back inside, Gerda and a few serving girls are watching out of a window towards where we were seated in the garden. They do not realize that I have come back inside and it makes me giggle to myself. I walk up behind them and loudly clear my throat.

"Something interesting in the garden?"

They turn around with a start, when we all make eye contact we laugh with each other. The serving girls are very excited about the events which have taken place outside.

"What did she say?"

"Well darling, it's indeed tragic." Their eyes grow wide and their mouths slacken, "That you and I can no longer see each other, because she said yes." First they laugh at my joke and then they all congratulate me. "Alright ladies, go congratulate the bride, because I have somewhere to be." I smile at them and the two younger girls run into the garden to speak with Anna.

I nod at Gerda, and start walking through the castle. There is something I have to do before I can marry Anna and I am going to do it today.

When I get to the cave it is not even midday. Even though it is empty except for me, it feels inhabited. Kristoff must be spending a lot of time here. I have not been in months; I have been too busy entertaining a certain princess. I am not sure whether or not he will be coming back today at all; I certainly hope he will because I am not sure whether or not I will be able to steal another day away from the palace, what with the date set now.

I pull off my boots and roll up my trousers; I let my feet dangle in the water. I just have to wait for him now.

He does not disappoint, I am not there an hour and a half before he comes back to the cave.

"Elsa?" He says as he walks in loudly, his boots slapping the ground hard. "Is that really you?" He sets down the firewood he was carrying and takes another step towards me.

I pull myself out of the pool and stand up, "In the flesh." I take a little bow.

"Where have you been?" His voice seems almost desperate. "It's been five months since I last saw you here."

"I've had a lot of things going on Kristoff; it was much more difficult to get away. I can't imagine I'll be able to come very often if at all from now on."

He walks up to me and pulls me into a tight embrace; I hug him back because he really needs it. He runs his fingers through my hair. "Your hair, it's so short." He is right; I started cutting it much shorter about three months ago. It had a lot to do with the fact that doing my hair in the morning when it is long is very tedious.

"Kristoff, I'm really getting married." He pulls away from me, and lets out an incredibly exasperated sigh.

"This again? Elsa, you don't have to get married! We can leave, run away from all of this. From your father and your fiancé!" His voice is edging on desperate again.

"No we can't Kristoff. What sort of life would we lead, and where would we go? People know who I am; I would have to become a girl again in order to hide from the royals of every country we went to. I won't do that Kristoff, I will not hand my independence to you on a platter just so you can entertain a childish fantasy of the princess and the ice merchant running away together and living happily ever after."

"A childish fantasy? How long have you been stealing away here to see me? And how long have you, when you're here, lain with me as a man would lay with his wife? And you call my idea of being together a childish fantasy?"

"I never planned on being with you forever, Kristoff, how could I? I have a duty to my father and to my kingdom to play the role I was assigned after I was born. I know you see how my father sometimes torments me and sometimes I come here with you full of hate for him. Nevertheless, he is my father and that means something. He raised me this way to ensure the sanctity of his line, and that is something I can't ignore." He shakes his head at me, "If I leave, he will have no heir, and with no wife to speak of he cannot produce any new children. Then war will come for a chance at the throne. I have an obligation to my kingdom to prevent that if I can. I know it means nothing to you, but it is very important to me."

"So then become king first and tell everyone you're a woman second. What can they do once you're already in power? And then you'll be free to marry a man."

"They can kill me Kristoff; even if I tell everyone I'm a woman, being free to marry you is the very last thing that will happen. My claim will be illegitimate and I'll have to marry to keep my position, and I'll have to marry a prince or some other lord. Not you. There is no way this works out."

"I won't accept that!" His voice rises with anger, but underneath it is something more. It cracks through the surface of his words, fear. "I love you Elsa! And even if you can't marry me, I won't let you throw your life away for some girl you don't love. Just don't marry and name some other relative heir to the throne."

I instantly lose the frustration from my voice and it turns into seriousness, "I don't remember saying that I didn't love her."

And, as if on cue, we hear a shuffling noise from about five feet behind me behind a large rock. Kristoff is on edge as he approaches the rock, thinking it could be an animal trapped.

Suddenly, after seeing what was behind the rock, he turns back to me. His face has obtained a look of disgust. "What the fuck." It isn't a question. "What the fuck, Elsa. You brought this slut here? You brought this pampered bitch to our cave?"

I know what has happened today. Anna gets nervous when I go off by myself because of the ice magic. If I have a fit she doesn't want to leave me alone to pick up the pieces. It was something I appreciated until this moment, she followed me here. And she was right in doing so; if he had never shown up there is a good chance that is what would have happened.

"I didn't bring her here, but even if I had," I start as I make my way to her, "she's a person, not a thing for you curse at. If there was any chance of us reconciling this you have ruined it by how you have spoken." I help her to her feet and I can tell she is frightened by the situation. "It's going to be okay Anna. You're fine." She nods, but she is watching Kristoff very cautiously. I pull my boots back on and fix my trousers.

I take her by the waist and start to lead her out, so I can take her home.

"Yeah, take your little slut home with you Els. God knows how lost that little bitch could get in my forest." I stop walking.

When I turn around he is six inches away from my face. I can see the pain in his eyes and I know these words and these curses are results of that pain.

Only I do not care. She is going to be my partner for life, and that means that I will protect her honor as I hope she will protect mine. I look to her and I can see tears forming, she does not look back at Kristoff though. Her grip on my sleeve tightens and she is longing to leave this place.

I free myself of her for a moment, and I smirk at Kristoff. And then my fist connects with the side of his jaw.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own the story of Frozen or any of its original characters, including but not limited to Anna, Elsa, The King, Olaf, Sven, Gerda and Kristoff.**

_AN: Here's Chapter 6 guys! So just a note, since people seem to be getting confused, there is a LOT of stuff that happens that has not been written about. Someone mentioned it seemed like Elsa had been leading Kristoff on; just to clarify they were together in a matter of speaking for several years in this story. Hope that clears things up! If you have any questions still, ask them in a review and I'll either write about them or answer them in the Author's Note. _

_Also, this one happens right after Chapter 5, this is almost a continuation of that chapter. After this we will probably jump around in the chronology again because I think it's fun._

Anna has been sitting in my room alone for the past several hours. When I look outside again, the world has sunken into darkness. It is a clouded darkness which means that I can see no stars or moon on this night. The window has frozen shut and I cannot open it to get any air. I wipe the frost off of its surface and gaze out of the window into the cold darkness. The room I am in now is not one of mine; it is one unused by my father which means that having ice fits in here is not as bad. There is no furniture to ruin. Unlike usual I have remained conscious throughout the entirety of my stay in this room. I am not aware of how long I have spent in here though; baby steps I guess.

I pull off my boots because I can feel my feet sweating uncomfortably in them. I put them on when my feet were still wet back in the cave and I am now facing the consequences. I am the only person I know who can sit in a room frozen solid, with icicles pointing from every direction and still be sweating.

I have not seen Anna since I left her in my room. I told Gerda to give the girl a long bath and not to answer any questions about this whole gender catastrophe. I will handle that when I get there, it is not Gerda's secret so she need not explain it. I have no idea what Anna is thinking though and it is truthfully that which has led to the freezing of this room. There are a lot of things affecting me emotionally now, but the thought of losing my wife three weeks before we are wed is the worst one of all.

I am not angry at Kristoff, although the newly formed bruises on my knuckles might tell a different story. I am more sorry for him than anything else actually. I know that I am a difficult person to be around, but the situation itself was difficult. There really was no feasible way for him and I to be together that did not result in the estrangement of me from my family and the potential destruction of our kingdom. I know him to truly be a very kind person so I am not even angry at what he said to Anna. I am sad that it turned out the way it did, in a perfect situation we would stayed friends.

Nor am I particularly worried about any vengeful actions he might take. I have never known him to hold grudges or seek vengeance over anyone. He more often seeks out understanding and forgiveness from the person. Although in this instance, I also doubt that. However, even if he did try to take revenge on me and told everyone my true sex, no one would believe him. And worse, he would probably be beheaded for accusing the future King of such a crime as lying to his people for his entire life.

No, it is the possible thoughts forming and swirling around Anna's brain that have sent me into such a flurry upon our arrival back to the castle. I have always known that finding a wife would be especially difficult for me; as there are a lot of factors involved. The family the princess comes from is one, the strategic location of their family's kingdom is another, their ability to conduct court in an appropriate manner and, in addition, their ability to know and keep my most important and devastating secret. Anna was the best candidate by far that my father approached me with. This was why I had requested such an extended courtship with her before our wedding was to take place. I had to make sure I could completely trust her with something that could ruin my life.

I left my boots in the frozen room when I walked into the hall and told a serving girl who was near to inform Gerda that the room needed cleaning. She bowed and turned away. I think several of the servants here are figuring out just what the ice magic is doing to me. It is pretty late though, as I suspected, and there are very few people out and about. I am quite sure I have never walked the halls barefoot before and the prospect makes me laugh to myself.

Once I reach the door to my room I pause; I am unsure what I will find awaiting me inside and I, for once, am scared out of my mind. I can feel a warmth coming from the room; Gerda must have started a fire in there.

I gently press the door open and step gingerly inside; Anna is sitting on the edge of the bed in a long sky blue nightdress. She remains very still as I walk inside but her eyes do turn towards me. She nods towards me but I receive none of her warm and inviting smile that I have become accustomed to. She is not giving off an air of coldness, simply just that she is unsure what she wants to say and how she wants to react to me.

"Anna," I start, her eyebrows raise in anticipation of what I will say. I refuse to start our conversation off heavy though, "would you like to stay here tonight, there is more than one place to sleep and I'm quite sure we can work it out." She nods but says nothing. I take that as my cue to continue speaking, "I'm going to get undressed now, because I don't much fancy sleeping in these clothes." I flash her a smile, although I would be lying if I said it was not forced. She grants me a small grin back.

I pull off my tunic which has grown dirty from wear all day and place it on a chair which sits near the wardrobe. Anna is watching me intently. She continues to watch me as I pull off my trousers and put on some night-wear ones. Her eyes narrow as I take off my undershirt and bindings. I stand before her, never having felt more vulnerable, with the torso of a woman.

I am getting more anxious as time goes on and this comes out as impatience; I blurt out, "Aren't you going to ask me why?"

She looks at me for a moment; it is a long moment. Despite the obvious and inevitable warmth from the fire, during that moment I feel a chill rise up my spine and my hands grow cold. Slowly though, she rises from her seated position on my bed, the night dress is loose on her form and flows easily as she moves. She walks toward me with intent and I do not know how to respond. She does not stop walking until she is less than a foot in front of me.

"I don't need to ask why Eza. I get it. I've been doing a lot of thinking in here. I bet you were going to tell me anyways weren't you?" I nod slowly; I am a bit taken aback by this. There were a lot of things I thought she would say, but this was not really one of them. I sink down into the chair I had placed my tunic in; since Anna is so much shorter than me, we are much closer to eye level now.

"Elsa." I whisper, my eyes still transfixed on hers. "My name is really Elsa." She smiles with her lips closed, better than the quick grin from earlier but not quite the beautiful smile I am so fond of.

"Elsa." She repeats.

"Do you still want to marry me?" I ask pathetically; this woman has truly leveled me today. She is right in assuming I was going to tell her before the wedding, but not like this, never like this. My meeting with Kristoff might have ruined everything.

"First you have to tell me about Kristoff." I flinch a little internally at the mention of his name but I nod. She pulls the other chair from across the room over and sits in front of me.

"Kristoff and I met when we were five years old. I went to the market with my father; he often liked to show me off as a child since I was very beautiful and could make snow come out of my fingers. Kristoff didn't have a family but he was staying with a group of ice sellers. They go into the mountains and break the ice apart you know, very physically difficult work. And he was about as tall as I, I remember. My father let us play together that day, and Kristoff figured it out. He figured out that I was a girl. I was less experienced in fooling the masses back then. After that I always made excuses to go to the market to see him. When we were 12 was when he first took me to the cave. It was my twelfth birthday, and the fourth one that my father had been gone for. So, as a present, he took me to the cave which was to be our secret place.

"When we were 16 we fell in love. It was foolish then too, only he remembered back then that it was not something to last forever. We told no one of our secret. It was like a drug, an escape from a world of people who didn't know me, who sought to control me, or who simply didn't care about me. Kristoff was all that mattered. When we were 21 we made love for the first time, we were incredibly careful not to cause any unwanted consequences. But after that happened, it got harder and harder to sneak away so often. You see, father was trying to find me a wife and I was often entertaining young ladies. It was really during that time that I knew our time together was finite. I hadn't seen him in over five months before today, and I haven't lain with him since eight months ago." She nods. She sits for a moment, absorbing the quick summary of my several years of love and pain over this man.

"I appreciate your honesty. I hope that you can find the same freedom of self with me." She does not look at all satisfied though.

"Anna, you don't have to marry me." I say gently. I would be lying if I said I had not fallen in love with Anna during our courtship, but I understood that asking her to accept this was asking a lot of her.

"I know," she says, "I think I still want to though."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, quite sure."

"May I kiss you?" I ask, because I need something like that at this moment, this day has been one of crumbling past life and I need some solidarity.

"Yes," she says back; I place my hands gently on the back of her neck and pull her closer to me. I entwine my lips with hers and this kiss is my favorite so far. It is long and passionate and sweet.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own the story of Frozen or any of its original characters, including but not limited to Anna, Elsa, The King, Olaf, Sven, Gerda and Kristoff.**

_AN: Sorry it's been almost a week since I posted but I have been very busy with everything going on in life lately. This story takes place farther in the future than the last couple of chapters. Just as a point of reference let's say in this chapter Anna is 22 and Elsa is 26 and they are over two years married._

From my newly acquired position on the floor, I can see Anna shaking with rage still. Her body is convulsing in small spasms throughout her entire muscular system. Everything from her hands to her delicate eyelids is shaking very rapidly. Never in the three years that I have known her have I ever seen her angry before. Anger is not her favorite emotion; most of the time she will choose sadness or spitefulness over anger when someone upsets her. Usually when I upset her, I receive the spiteful Anna. However, most of the time I do not upset Anna by shouting at her, most of the time it is because I am too busy to spend as much time with her as I would like to.

Today is different though; today I was, for the first time since knowing her, genuinely angry with Anna. However, seeing things from the new perspective of the floor, I am considerably less upset than I was before. Thinking back on it though, since this is such an excellent time for reflection having been knocked to the ground, I am not sure what I thought would be different when I came to confront Anna. I am certain I did not think she would just agree with me and start apologizing, but I definitely did not expect her to punch me so hard I fell backwards.

My half-minute of recovery time spent on the floor has been incredibly reflective and mind clearing. I am still upset with Anna, for the same original reason, not for punching me straight in the nose. Good shot though. Moreover, all my anger towards her has dissipated and instead I am just a little ticked off and my nose is throbbing. I reach up and touch my face, no blood that is a relief.

To my immediate left I find a dresser. I place my hand on the top of it and slowly hoist myself off of the floor. The force of being knocked over by my petite wife has freaked out my body. I can feel the adrenaline rushing through me as I first steady myself and then find a seat in the chair located next to the wardrobe. Anna's rage is transforming into more of a sad upset emotion as I move into my new position of choice. She is hell-bent on keeping that look of intense anger in her eyes, but I can see the true tears leaking out slowly.

"Why don't you sit down? Hmm? My nose would much prefer it we talked about this like calm adults instead." She straightens her stance as she thinks about it. Eventually though, she decides I am right and she settles on the chair next to the window.

"I'm sorry for punching you." She mumbles towards the window, her strawberry hair is pulled back in a tight bun today. No braids in sight, she has not worn braids in her hair since we were married. I miss the braids, they were sweet. I notice that the usual powders and colors that adorn her face have been washed away. I am assuming from crying in here alone, waiting for my wrath all afternoon. The clothes she is wearing almost seem sad too, as though they were a precursor to how this day would turn out. The gown seems lovely enough at first, it is well made and the pattern is pretty, but the blue looks gray against her skin and becomes even duller when compared to her hair. Blue is usually my favorite color on her, however tonight it is not what I would have chosen.

"No need to apologize pet, I'm sorry that I came in here to speak to you so full of rage." She nods her acceptance and shifts her gaze from the outside towards me. Her teal eyes could pierce my soul on any day, but today they render me completely stunned. They are beautifully sad; I can tell she is very upset with herself for hitting me and still very upset with me for yelling, but upset with herself again for the reason this whole debacle was caused.

This was not the first time my lovely wife has cheated on me since our marriage. However, it is the first time that she ever openly denied it to me and forced me to find out from overhearing a conversation of whispers. It is the first time I have ever truly felt threatened in the security of my relationship. I am well aware that our relationship is incredibly unorthodox and I also understand that makes it difficult for the both of us.

"Why are you so angry with me?" She asks, interrupting my thought process. Her voice is strong and loud again. She has a valid question; her relationships outside of ours have never bothered me before this one.

"Well, to be clear I am not angry any longer. Simply upset. And I think it is because this time, it feels different. You didn't want me to know about this man, and you lied to me when I asked you about it. Even though, I doubt I've ever given you reason to think you needed to hide things like this from me. It feels different because I know you spend hours together talking and laughing, and I don't want to be replaced."

I pause for a moment, looking for some inclination of her desire to add something to the currently one sided conversation. When I receive none, I continue, "The other ones felt different from the relationship we had and that was why they didn't bother me. You wanted something you weren't getting from me and I was fine to let you seek it elsewhere. But Anna, let me be frank, I can't seek these things from other people. Oh don't give me that look it's not because you're any more promiscuous, it's because if I were to seek others I would have to tell them a secret about myself that only five people have ever known about me."

She shifts uncomfortably in her chair for a moment, she knows my point is valid but she isn't sure what to make of it. "Anna, I chose to trust you with this because I think you are a trustworthy person. I was right so far, you've never let me down. But Anna, don't leave me in the dust here. Don't replace me with some foreign fool because then I won't have anyone."

My cards having been laid upon the table, as it were, I finish speaking. She stands suddenly and starts to play at her hair, attempting to free it from the tight bonds it's been locked in all day. Once she pulls it down to its natural position she turns around; her back to me now she pulls her hair to the front of her. I know what this means, for usually she does it to her handmaiden.

I pull myself out of my chair and walk over to her. I place my hands on the back of her dress. The fabric is hooked together in an intricate pattern of hooks and ties to keep it on her form all day. I begin to undo them dutifully as her begins to speak again.

"Elsa," a shiver runs through me then, she is the only one to call me by my true name even in private, "I'm not trying to replace you with him at all; you're much too special to me. It's just that sometimes I forget how much I matter to you and I go out looking for someone I can matter to. Even if it is only for one night. Most of the time though, I can't find the feeling I'm searching for. The feeling of belonging, of mattering, of being needed. And with him, I feel that way at least for a while. Of course I know he's only interested in the potential kingdoms he could rule by marrying me and getting you out of the picture. But in the moment, it feels nice." After she has finished speaking, I slide the blue-gray dress over her head.

It's my turn to speak once again and she continues to undress herself, "Don't you think you could feel that way with me? Anna, you are more special than anyone else in this world to me and I want you to feel that way." I myself have begun pulling off my boots and tunic, it is late and I am hoping that she will let me stay in here tonight. "I love you and I'm truly sorry for my angry words earlier." I cup her face in my hands and kiss her nose softly.

That is not the kiss she was expecting nor is it the one she wants, she takes me by the back of the neck and kisses me roughly on the mouth. She gets so passionate sometimes, it takes me by surprise. She pulls off her shoes and slip dress, she is now only wearing her underwear and soon she has me in mine.

We are still standing where we started but I make no move towards the bed yet, I run my fingers through her strawberry hair. Her hands find something else to connect with and her mouth is on top of mine again as she continues undressing me.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own the story of Frozen, nor any of its original characters.**

_AN: Sorry that I've been neglecting you all, oh wait no I'm not! #sorrynotsorry I have been working like a mad dog on my school work and on my theatre's fall show. #stagemanagerproblems but here you go, finally the 8th chapter you've all been dying for (AKA my sister is the one dying). I'm not sure if I'll be able to start writing regularly again though, so be patient with me darlings._

I blink a few times and attempt to focus my eyes; the colors of this room swirl around me like leaves in the wind. I clamp my eyes shut and wait for the wind to settle before I attempt to watch it again. I manually slow my breathing down, it has been rushing in and out of my lungs up to this point - no doubt a result of the wind I am experiencing. But of course, I am indoors and there is no wind really, only my thoughts which dance around the air and bounce off the walls. Once my breaths are tightly regulated again, I pull myself up into a sitting position on the bed but do not yet open my eyes. The sheets on my bed, which normally are soft and cool, have today turned cold and sharp. My fingers feel rough on them and they cling to my skin with static electricity. I finally peel my eyes open once again, the world has not settled down yet and it circles and turns round in my eyes.

I steady myself on the bed, whose pale yellow sheets have yet to calm down either, and I swing my legs over the edge of the mahogany frame. With every movement I make, the world spins again with new found determination. The floor stings my bear feet with its heat as I walk across its marble. I reach the wash basin, silver in color it looks gray in the dark of early morning. I run some water across my hands, hoping to stimulate feeling in my numb fingertips. As I rub my palms together, I turn back around to face the bed and find my wife still laying upon it, asleep as though it were the middle of the night and not early in the morning.

I splash some water on my face and it has a warm, calming feeling against my skin which is ice cold per usual. I slink back towards the bed, and my sleeping beauty, and climb on top of the sheets which still feel rough under my hands. I do not lie back down to sleep again because I realize that it will be impossible. Anna's body is poised towards my side of the bed and her red blonde hair lays listless around her pillow, my fingertips - now moist with morning dew - find the gentle curvature of her chin. I stroke her face slowly and mindfully, her skin is hot and glistens with sweat. Her face looks contorted almost, and I can tell what is happening in her mind is no peaceful dream.

I am correct in my assumptions for as I sit above her, gently stroking her cheek, her body begins convulsing. Muscles spasming in a fit of fear, and mouth quivering with hot anticipation. She lets out a high pitched moan, and curls her body deeper into a ball. I move my hand from her face to her left shoulder, which is poised up towards the ceiling.

"Anna," I say as I shake her body, attempting to shatter her nightmare, "Wake up princess," I kiss her on the cheek.

Her eyelids spring open and her blue eyes, wild and feral, search for the source of her night horrors. She find only me to stare at though, as I am the only one present, and her eyes soon take on a different appearance. Despite being pulled from her nightmare, her mind lingers in the horrors of her thoughts and she pulls her knees into her chest, attempting to disappear into nothing.

"Anna, you're alright. Come here," I hold my arms open, a familiar signal which means that she can embrace me until she feels better about what has transpired. She happily obliges and climbs onto my form, sitting on my lap with arms around my midsection. I had forgotten until this moment that I neglected to put on any clothes when I stumbled out of bed earlier, but Anna seems to not mind. Her breath is warm on my chest and somehow she is the one comforting me, despite being the one in need of comfort. I am still shaken by our fight last night and it is for that reason why I woke up in such a cold sweat as it were.

We sit like that for a long time it seems, as she empties her tear-ducts all over my bare body. I do not mind a single bit and I just run my fingers through her red blonde hair. The sun peeks up over the horizon, I can see it through the window. Although frosty with snow outside, the sun still paints the clouds this morning. Orange, pink, red, purple, it is quite a sight.

"Darling," I say, gently lifting her body off of mine, "look at the sunrise, it's beautiful this morning." She turns around so her back is to me, I wrap my legs around her hips and we sit that way and watch the sun come over the snow-speckled trees. I lean my face into her shoulder, which is bare, and kiss her pale skin very lightly.

"I'm sorry," I whisper into the softness of her skin.

"Why are you sorry?" She asks without turning to look at me, she is still intent on watching the sunrise.

"For last night, I'm sorry." She still does not turn around but I feel her sigh before I hear it.

"Elsa, we already talked this out last night, it's fine. It's over now."

Now I turn her face towards mine with a delicate pull of my fingertips. My brow furrows down as I speak again, "No. I need to say that I'm sorry to you, because I had no right to come in and yell at you. I promise I won't ever do it again."

She smiles lightly, a smirk, "You don't need to make such outlandish promises. I'm quite feisty and I don't listen, you may yet need to yell at me." She kisses me with force on the lips. "I might also need to yell at you, so I think a better promise for us to make is to always forgive and move on afterwards." I nod and kiss her again, my hands on her neck.

She pulls herself away and moves to go get dressed. I follow her, since now the sun is up and we should be too.


End file.
